LAPD probes how woman under police protection was slain with officers nearby

The Los Angeles Police Department is investigating how a woman under the department's protection after she filed a domestic abuse report was slain at her Mid-City apartment as officers were outside.

The officers heard her screams, ran into the apartment and saw a man stabbing the woman. They opened fire, fatally wounding the attacker.

According to LAPD sources, the chain of events began Wednesday night when the unidentified woman came to the Wilshire Division to report that she was a victim of domestic abuse.

Officers who specialize in domestic violence talked to the woman and at some point drove her back to her home near Cochran Avenue and Pico Boulevard.

The victim went inside her apartment, and the officers remained outside, according to the sources, who spoke to The Times on condition of anonymity because the case is continuing. It's unclear whether the officers escorted the woman into the apartment and exactly how and when the attacker got inside, LAPD officials said.

Inside, the officers found a man stabbing the woman. The officers began shooting at the man, and he and the woman were taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where they later died.

The man died of gunshot wounds and the woman from stab wounds, said Officer Bruce Borihanh of the Los Angeles Police Department.

Wilshire Division homicide detectives are conducting an investigation into the attack, and the officer-involved shooting is being investigated internally, authorities said.

-- Andrew Blankstein, Baxter Holmes and My-Thuan Tran

Photos: LAPD investigators at the scene of the incident. At right, a woman who identified herself as a friend of the victim weeps while talking on a phone. Credit: Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times